COEUR D'ALENE RIVER FISHING REPORT
May 29, 2025
Location: Coeur d'Alene River and Surrounding Fisheries
Flows:
CDA RIVER: 2,220 CFS AT CATALDO
ST JOE FLOW: 4,480 CFS AT CALDER
CLARK FORK MT: 12,300 CFS AT ST REGIS
SPOKANE RIVER: 7,650 CFS AT POST FALLS
A nice window last week for fishing. Some of the rivers will, however, be climbing again, including Montana’s Clark Fork and Idaho’s St. Joe. The Coeur d’ Alene is still looking great and still on the drop. The Spokane is still a touch high, but running quick but clear, and is still doable with a boat. Lots of great reports from last weekend. It’s been super busy here in the shop and we appreciate all the support and hope you all had a great weekend! The weather is warming, which means we are getting into the main stride of our runoff. This coming week we are looking at 70’s and 80’s. This will certainly start chewing into the upper-level snowpack quickly.
The Clark Fork looks like it may hit close to 30,000 cfs in about a week. The St. Joe will climb back up to 7-8k in a week as well. Ultimately, this is all a good thing and means we should have good strong flows during the heat of the summer--the trout will love it! So, for now the Cda is a great option. Or maybe opt to do some local warmwater fishing instead. This should be fantastic this week with the warmup. The bass will really push in shallow, and this is when it gets fun. Poppers will be on the menu. Popper fishing is an absolute kick in the pants. The bass will be protecting their beds and get very aggressive. Not a difficult thing to do, but major fun. You’ll want something that makes a good audible “pop” when stripping the fly. Hence “popper”. We have bunches to choose from. Mouse flies are good for this, too, and we have plenty of patterns to choose from. I’d still have a sink-tip and a streamer present in the boat at all times. Focus on the really rocky and bouldery banks when it’s warm.
The trout fishing should be great this week on the Cda. Stoneflies will be out in a major way. Goldens are starting to show up, along with yellow sallies, caddis, green and grey drakes, PMD’s, Hendricksons... almost too many bugs to list. But ones that gets overlooked are the ants and beetles. We get a killer carpenter ant hatch this time of year, and this warm weather period is the time to see them. You most definitely want some of these in your box. Honestly, I think that's why the smaller Purple Chubby Chernobyl's are so popular now. It fits the Carpenter Ant profile to a T. The all black MFC Water Walkers are great flying ant patterns too.
Keep a close eye on the weather. It looks like we’ll have spectacular weather for the rest of the week and then a low front is supposed to move in and cool it down. This will kick off the mayflies very well. So, expect to see lots of Golden Stones, Yellow sallies, Ants and Beetles. When the cold front hits it will most likely shift to more of a mayfly thing. Green Drakes, Grey Drakes, Pmd’s, Blue Wing Olives etc... The Pmd’s should be coming into shape soon. This can be one of the most consistent daily hatches we have, besides caddis, throughout the year. At times these bugs are very prolific, and the hatch usually starts about now. The shift in weather looks to start about Sunday. Honestly, I'm super ok with it. A little sun and warmth and a little rain and clouds is just great. Let's see if that pattern lasts this summer. We can always use rain and overcast weather in late July and August.
If you guys have the next few days off, I'm super jealous! Hope you all have a great week and take advantage of the great fishing we have right now.
Cheers!
Tyler
REMEMBER: Jurassic Flats Carp Clave is coming up in Boardman, Oregon, June 7. Everything you need to know or learn about carp on the Northwest flats. My favorite thing to do! In fact, carp have earned a very big place in my heart over the last few years. This is a super fun event and if you want to expand your learning in flats-style fishing this is a great event for you. Well guys have a great week and swing by the shop and grab some goodies before you go!